Free laptops: Education dept warns college students of online fraud

CHENNAI: With the free laptop scheme for college students expected to begin shortly, the Higher Education Department authorities expressed concern that some students were lured by the false registration process to get the computer, which was spreading on social media and also on the websites.

The state government's long-awaited free laptop scheme is expected to take off between February and March 2026, with the tender process with three multinational computer manufacturers finalised.

Accordingly, about 20 lakh students in over 4,600 Arts, Science, Engineering, Agriculture and Medical colleges across the State are expected to benefit from the Rs 2,000-crore project, which was announced in the 2025–26 State Budget.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department, seeking anonymity, said that at present that the state government has not released any online registration for availing the free computer laptop scheme.

"We received several queries from the students as well as from parents," he said, adding, "We made it clear and told them not to believe such fake links coming either from websites or from various social media."

The official said that a clear circular has been issued to all the principals of the government colleges to identify the students who will benefit from free computer laptops.

"We are receiving the beneficiaries' data from the heads of the colleges, and therefore, students were requested to approach their respective institutions for any clarification in this regard," he added.